Agenda and minutes

There were no Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

a)  To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 6^th April, 2017.

b)  Matters Arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 6^th April, 2017 were agreed and signed as a true record.

To consider whether to exclude the press and public for the item of private business for the reasons shown in the report.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member for Adult Services agrees to exclude the press and public under Sections 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 relating to the private report in minute 18 below headed “Money Management Support – Direct Payment Support Services” on the grounds that the report involves the likely disclosure of information defined in Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as it contains information relating to the financial affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information) and in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) regarding the adult social care complaints and representations during 2016/17.  Adult Services had a statutory duty arising from the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Services Complaints Regulations 2009, to provide a system for receiving complaints and representations from people who use its services, or those acting on behalf of users. There was also a duty under the regulations to produce and publish an annual report.  Appended to the report was the Adult Social Care Complaints and representations annual report 2016-17 and the People Directorate and Social Care Complaints Handling Guidance.

The report set out the details of the complaints and representations across Coventry’s adult services in 2016/17.  It highlighted the service improvements and learning from feedback and included information on future developments in complaint handling and reporting.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Services and the Shadow Cabinet Member discussed the following with officers:

·  Complaints and outcomes

·  Complaints as a percentage of case loads

·  Learning

·  Use of technology

·  Compliments

·  Surveys

·  Benchmarking

The Cabinet Member requested that the next annual report provide more detail about changes made following complaints.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member note the Council’s performance in relation to complaints and representations in adult social care in 2016/17 and agree to the publication as this is a legal requirement. 

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Further to minute 2/16 the Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) regarding the Adult Social Care Annual Report 2016/17 (Local Account) which described the performance of Adult Social Care and the progress made against the priorities for the year and specifically considered examples of the operational activities to support service users and carers under the ten themes of the Adult Social Care Vision.  The report had been considered by the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) on the 13th September 2017 (their minute 11/17 refers) and a briefing note of the Members and Elections Team Manager was attached to the report.

Although there was not a statutory requirement to produce an annual report, it was considered good practice as it provided an opportunity to be open and transparent about the successes and challenges facing Adult Social Care and to show what was being done to improve outcomes for those that come into contact with Adult Social Care.  The production of an annual report was part of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) approach to Sector Led Improvement, launched in 2011.  This approach was launched following the removal of national targets and assessments for Adult Social Care. 

The production of the 2016/17 report had drawn on the pool of feedback and information that was gathered over the year from a range of sources including social care staff, Partnership Boards, Adult Social Care Stakeholder Reference Group, providers and people that had been in contact with Adult Social Care.  As a departure from previous years this report was aligned around the Adult Social Care values and principles as a mechanism of demonstrating what the Council were doing in practice to deliver what we sign up to strategically.

Additionally the feedback on readability and content from previous years had been noted and as a result the 2016/17 Annual Report was once again in a shorter format.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Services and the Shadow Cabinet Member discussed with officers the following:

·  The useful scrutiny consideration

·  Benchmarking

·  Useful Case studies which evidence the difference made with support provided

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member:   

1)  Consider comments from the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5)

2)  Approve the Adult Social Care Annual Report 2016/17 (Local Account) 

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) regarding money management support and direct payment support services.

A corresponding private report which detailed confidential aspects of the proposals was also submitted to the meeting for consideration.

The underlying principle of self-directed support was the development of a culture supported by the tools that enable people to take greater control of their lives and the support they receive so that they can make decisions and manage their own care and support arrangements and manage risks. This put people at the centre of assessing their own needs and tailoring their own support.

Direct Payments enabled people to have control over spending their personal budgets and facilitated a greater degree of choice, than would otherwise be available, in how their support was delivered. This could be achieved through employing one or more personal assistants or through spending all or part of a personal budget with an agency who supply support workers to assist with meeting social care eligible needs.

People were able to access a range of support services to assist with the administration of direct payments.  Currently this support was almost exclusively provided through a single contract with an annual spend of approximately £250k. This current contract would expire on 31 March 2018.

The most recent peer challenge of Adult Social Care completed in 2016 recommended that options for Direct Payments support be considered especially in relation to choice of provision.  On reviewing the arrangements currently in place in Coventry was identified that, although only one provider was used, they offered a range of money management support options and this provided choice within one organisation.  This range included:

•  Direct Payment Support Service

•  Direct Payment Audit

•  Third Party Supported Accounts

•  Payroll Service

•  Promoting Financial Independence

•  Peer Group Support (quarterly)

•  Suitable Person

•  Appointeeship

•  Deputyship - (Through Application to the Court)

•  Individual Service Funds

•  Personal Assistant without employer liability

In setting a future direction for the arrangement of direct payment support services Coventry Adult Social Care sought comparable information and views from other authorities in the region, some of which was obtained through a recent regional workshop which formed a consensus view that offering a range of direct payment support organisations in itself produced no tangible benefits for people accessing these services and results in a potential dis-economy of scale.

Section 1.5 in the report noted that, as opposed to considering whether to engage more direct payment support organisations, work was undertaken to identify what further improvements and diversification of support could be obtained from continuing to contract with a single provider.  As a result of this work a number of improvements for future provision in the City had been identified. These included:

•  Further development of the Personal Assistants market with improved focus on growing the market place, access, recruitment and training. This would result in more Personal Assistants which would offer more options, innovation and greater choice locally.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

There are no Outstanding Issues

There were no outstanding issues to report.

Any other items of public business which the Cabinet Member decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of public business.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

Further to Minute 15 above, the Cabinet Member for Adult Services considered a private report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) that set out the confidential aspects of the money management support and direct payment support services report.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member:

1)  Following the outcome of a review of the service, and alternative Direct Payment Support arrangements, to support a series of improvements as described in section 1.5

2)  Approve a new contract and service specification with the organisation detailed in the report submitted, for 2 years including provision for subcontracting to alternative providers where the main provider is not the person’s preferred choice.

There were no other items of private business.